Real Estate

Darrell Parsons • November 3, 2011

Dear Darrell:
I have been thinking about selling my house, but want to do it at the optimal time. I see one day in the news that the real estate market is getting better, and then the next day see that it isn’t. I can’t wait forever to sell my house, but on the other hand, I don’t want to sell it today and then discover that I could have sold it for a lot more six months from now.

Libbie R.
Georgetown

Dear Libbie:
That is a tough question. There are so many things which go into the decision to sell. It’s sounds like you aren’t under the gun to sell, and so you have some flexibility as to when to put your house on the market. In some ways that makes the decision all the harder, because absent an outside driving force, you are left with trying to “read” the market in order to determine the best time. In that task you are joining a large company of realtors, economists and others who are constantly trying to do that very thing.

The current reality of our market is that it is sporadic. It changes direction from week to week, neighborhood to neighborhood, and price range to price range. The general overall trend, however, is in the direction of a higher number of sales. In the past few months, the number of sales has been increasing, but compared to last year at this time, the average prices are lower. This is in large part because the strongest part of the market has been lower-priced properties being purchased by buyers who were looking for the $8000 tax credit. That makes the numbers spike but lowers the average sale price.

In your case, I suggest you find a realtor who will help you analyze your local market for the number and frequency of sales and the ratio of list price to sale price. If you look at that data closely, you will probably be able to reasonably conclude whether now is a good time to sell. It may come down to deciding if you can live with the price you can likely negotiate for your house at this point.

Darrell Parsons is the managing broker of the Georgetown Long and Foster office and abides by Equal Housing Opportunity regulations. Have a real estate question? E-mail him at darrell@lnf.com. He blogs at georgetownrealestatenews.blogspot.com.

Michelle Galler •

The owners had lived in Europe and loved old buildings, their secrets and surprises. They decided that Georgetown was the perfect place to find the right convergence of a period architecture, space with good “bones” and character that would be a suitable canvas for their creation. Together with their architect, Christian Zapatka, a champion of and expert in period Georgetown buildings, they pursued their quarry.

Their hunt took them through myriad clapboard row houses and brick Georgians until they happened upon their “crumbly cottage,” the dark, dowdy little 1810 Federal that they knew would unfurl into a spacious, light-filled beauty.

The potential lay, in great part, in its semi-detached orientation, with three exposures. Zapatka, an expert in keeping the period aspects of a house intact while giving it a fresh 21st-century makeover, gutted the entire house and then carefully put it back together, weaving together traditional crown molding and woodwork and reclaimed hardwood flooring, with updated lighting and modern space planning.

His greatest challenge was to create another entire level of livable space. Typically attics yield a treasure trove of reclaimable space, but in this case, it needed to be squeezed out from a four-foot earthen, windowless crawl space. His team dug deep, moving another five feet of earth, much of it by hand. Changing an earthen dungeon into a inviting living area is a challenge, and not every basement is a good candidate for finishing. Key considerations for conversion include controlling moisture, adding ventilation and light, and finding a way around hanging drain lines, ductwork and wiring. Added challenges stem from digging around what was once the original kitchen, judging from the huge masonry fireplace, of a 200-year-old building.

Although many finished basements in old houses are musty, dinghy affairs, proper planning, new products and architectural expertise yielded an additional 600 square feet of living space that includes a gourmet kitchen/family room, an office/guest room, a new full bath and a landscaped yard.

Walls of creamy curly maple cabinets hide a flat screen television and stereo equipment and provide plenty of storage. An open floor plan, a sparkling stainless steel mosaic backsplash, skylights, limestone floors and countertops and abundant high-efficiency windows make one forget that this was once a subterranean space.

Michelle Galler is a realtor with TTR/Sotheby’s International Realty, an interior designer and antiques dealer who resides in Georgetown’s West Village. If you have resolved a George¬town design challenge that would be of inter¬est to our readers, contact Ms. Galler in care of The Georgetowner.

Photographs by Amy Snyder Photography

Georgetowner •

What happens when you gather the greatest minds in the Washington design world and sic them on a newly built home? You end up with the Washington Design Center’s 2010 Design House, a glittering amalgam of styles new and old tied together by some of the freshest design thinking around. John Blee sits down with a few of the Design House’s featured decorators to get their perspective.

How did you accessorize your section of the house?

NESTOR SANTA-CRUZ [STUDY]: I used mostly my own personal accessories, paintings, vases, etc. I wanted it to be a very personal look, something that matches my work and meets the style of Elle Decor. I wanted a sense of abstraction, but also a realism in the actual pieces I selected. Mostly from the 1930s and 1940s. I use objects, textiles, carpets and furniture as pieces of an interior architectural vocabulary. Objects must talk to each other. The design language is the same even when mixing styles/periods. It’s a Latin and an American mixed way of looking at European precedents.

MELINDA NETTELBECK, ADAMSTEIN & DEMETRIOU ARCHITECTS [MASTER BEDROOM]: To accentuate the cosmopolitan feel of the space, we collected photography and ceramics from local galleries in black, white, and neutral shades. The sensual lines of the pieces add a feminine touch to an otherwise masculine space. The rich colors in the photography above the bed and unique lighting bring a playful element to the room.

FRANK RANDOLPH [PORTICO]: I put classic furniture that can stay there in all seasons. The entrance and exit of a home should look as good as the interior. I was thinking of classical Tuscany. Porticos go back to the Greeks and Romans.

Are there any aspects of your way of decorating a room that have changed in the last few years?

RANDOLPH: Yes, I am using more color, including shades of lavender and mauve and periwinkle blue. They make me happy. I bought a periwinkle shirt at Brooks Brothers the other day and it made me feel the same.

SANTA-CRUZ: That’s really a good question. I really think my work evolves, but if I had to say something, my work is more edited, more sophisticated, because I know the reference to the history of design, yet I want to provide a point of view, a personal quality, and both visual and physical comfort. It’s more edited than ever.

Did you have an imaginary client in mind when you designed the room?

KELLEY PROXMIRE: I imagined that a young female New York socialite living on Park Avenue lived in this space.

RITA AT. CLAIR [FAMILY ROOM]: I had an imaginary client: a family that enjoyed being together. An active family that enjoys sports, travel and art. That uses this room for family planning of their activities. A family that enjoys television, as well as the use of a fireplace. This family is also aware of design, perhaps not the trendy styles but good design in both antiques, art and contemporary styling.

SANTA-CRUZ: Yes, in a way. I really looked for inspiration to French decorator Madeleine Castaing. I wanted to use blue, her favorite color, and combine it the way she did: with yellows, reds, greens and dark furniture. But, I also wanted to fit the Elle Décor style: personal, designed and yet very today, very eclectic. I also do not like rooms to be only masculine or feminine. I like it to be able to be both.

Do you coordinate with other designers when you do a show house?

SANTA CRUZ: No, I never do that. That’s of no interest to me.

I think a show house needs to be like haute couture: present a point of view, a moment, yet send a message that design is important in our lives, regardless of cost. I have items in my room that cost very little when I bought them. The point is that I explore ideas that I have been “floating” in my mind for a while, and a show house can test those. With all the respect to my Hall of Fame colleagues, and I truly respect them, I am doing this to inspire: other designers, students and amateurs of design, manufacturers and editors, the public in general.

I hope when visiting this room, one takes an idea or two, good or bad, like it or not. I want people to question why I did what I did, even if they wouldn’t do it with my vision. If a show house is not used by the designers as way to teach or inspire, or confront other ways, then we are not doing our jobs as designers. I can tell you that I don’t want it to look like a high-end hotel room or a show room.

ST. CLAIR: Yes, I coordinate with two or three people on my projects; however, the showhouses we do are few. This particular showhouse has my personal name on it. Therefore, it is my design concept, selections and oversight. However, like in all my personally designed spaces, two designers on my staff, Brian Thim and Polly Bartlett, have not only coordinated my ideas but they have made the room happen.

What are you happiest with about your effort?

PROXMIRE: Scale. The space is very large for a foyer (approximately 18.5 by 27 feet) with very low ceilings. I wanted to make the space be welcoming and not too cavernous. I accomplished this by using dining room table bases for console tables, large round skirted table in the middle and adding a window to break up one long sidewall.

NETTELBECK: Because the architecture was about sculpting the walls, the faux finish was instrumental in creating a dark and seductive foundation. We used a simple crosshatch finish that provided the elegance of wall covering without the seams. In contrast, the light polished marble and luminous wall covering helped to define focal points, creating zones of activity within the large room.

ST. CLAIR: I am most happy with the room because it is as I wanted it. A family room is a very special place in a home. It must first be expressive of the taste and character of its occupants. A designer’s role is to organize the room with the necessary furnishings, personal objects and the usual family chaos that the family comes with, and form a functional and an aesthetically pleasing space. If that is accomplished, we have a successful design project.
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Gregg Busch • July 26, 2011

Case Shiller Index reported that of the 20 cities it recorded, home prices are off to a dismal start, with 18 cities down in price. Only 1 city actually had a 3.6% increase in prices. Guess which city that was…?

You got it right, the Washington, DC area. So with all the negative press these days about housing being in the dumps and prices poised to drop further, one needs to recognize that these are national numbers, not local.

Why is the District fairing better than the national average? Low unemployment with a rate of 5.6%, high affordability, above average home price growth, falling foreclosure rate, less houses under distressed sale, cheaper to buy then rent, and an increasing population. All these bode well for the future of housing in the Washington region. This is why we are actually seeing multiple offers this spring with low inventory levels. Realtors’ biggest complaint is that there is not enough inventory to sell, which is starting to drive up prices.

So now you ask yourself why you should pull the trigger today. Here are the best reasons why now is a good time to jump off the sidelines and get into the housing market:

1.) You can still find a good price if you look hard. The MRIS (multiple regional listing service) and Delta Associates are estimating that the increasing number of jobs into the area will continue the price gains long term. Buying now makes sense as clear statistics show prices are on the incline.

2.) Mortgages rates are still low, but not for long as the economy shows continued signs of improvement. Today you can get a loan around 4.75%, where just 2½ years ago rates were at 6.25%. Over a 30-year period, that can save you many thousands of dollars.

3.) You will save on income taxes to be able to afford more per month. You can deduct the mortgage interest and real estate taxes off your net taxable income.

4.) You will be able to hedge against inflation in the long term. You are not guaranteed a quick return in 2 years, but history has shown that owning a home over an extended period of time does beat inflation by a couple of points a year over average.

5.) It’s forced savings. As you continue to make your mortgage payment monthly, more dollars go into principal to pay the loan down which builds up equity. On top of those savings you have the appreciation of the property over the long term. Like the stock market, it is risk capital. As the stock market continues to go up and the economy improves the price will start to appreciate again. Just look at history.

As populations continue to grow in our country and here in the DC area, strain is going to be felt in the price of homes if new housing is not being created. New building permits are only growing at 4%, and while this is sufficient to cover population growth, it won’t be enough to cover those moving to the market or the people coming from being renters to buyers. Act now, and don’t pay attention to the negative headlines about housing.

Georgetowner •

Alessio Alessi flew into D.C. to help Deborah Kalkstein open her Alessi store in Cady’s Alley, Oct. 21. Many Alessi classic designs are familiar, such as the juicers, kettles and baskets, and follow the company’s commitment to function and emotion in its designs. “These are items to make you smile,” said Alessi during his pre-opening lecture on the history of the company, founded in Omegna, Italy, in 1921 by Giovanni Alessi. With its family company and freelance designers, Alessi offers thousands of kitchen and home items, valued and copied by many. Original Alessi designs, some from the 1930s, make up the “Memories from the Future” line. It was such a big deal that the Washington Post’s Jura Koncius and Robin Givhan, along with other local media types, showed up. The firm considers Georgetown residents and visitors “the ideal audience for Alessi’s products.” Kalkstein, the Georgetown store’s owner, also owns Contemporaria in Cady’s Alley. [gallery ids="99409,99410,99411,99412,99413" nav="thumbs"]

Amy Engle •

In hopes of discovering why tea has grown so popular recently, The Georgetowner interviewed the owners of two local tea shops, Hollie of Ching Ching Cha in Georgetown and Guy of Zen Tara Fine Teas in Bethesda, MD.

Tell us about your background and how you decided to open a tea shop.

Hollie: 15 years ago I ran into a Taiwanese Teahouse in Paris during my year of traveling in France and decided to have my own. I am chinese from Hong Kong.

Guy: I teamed up with co-owner Methee Thavornvongkajorn to open the shop. My background is in architecture and design, Methees’ is in the spa industry. We wanted to create a more contemporary version of a tea shop. We actually started looking onto it back in 2007 and worked on become knowledgeable about tea while having a part-time tea counter at the Farm Women’s Cooperative Market in Bethesda. We were attending the World Tea Expo every year and took almost 2 years to find the right location which turned about to be less than 2 blocks away from the Farmer’s Market on Wisconsin Avenue. We’re happy with the way things turned out, the shop is 1600 sq.ft., the largest tea shop we know of in the Metro DC region, we have a separate glass walled tea tasting room where we hold monthly events and true to our Zen name, it is a very relaxing, serene environment focused on tea.

Why do you love selling tea?

Hollie: I love selling tea because I love tea!

Guy: It is a great tasting beverage that is good for you. It is great to be able to go to the shop every day and work with a product that has such positive qualities. It is also a product with a tremendous history that literally has changed the fortunes of more than one country from Asia to Europe to the United States – tea has a great story. Here in the U.S. it is a particularly exciting time to be a part of the tea industry as our country is (finally?) living up to its’ potential of being great tea consumers. Right now, we’re probably getting the widest variety and some of the best teas we’ve ever been able to import into the U.S. We have 114 teas at the shop and weekly get customer requests recommendations for just one more tea they
would like us to find.

What about tea do you think is making it so popular all of a sudden?

Hollie: It’s a beverage taste delicious and good for health which is a rare combination.Nowadays, most of us are searching for food and drinks that will benefits our health. It’s also affordable, and easy to prepare.

Guy: Better tasting loose teas are available now – grocery store tea bags aren’t the only options (similar to when the coffee industry broke open from a limited number of coffees in a can or “freeze-dried” jars in grocery stores). Consumers are more aware of health benefits. There is also a generational shift in more than one direction perhaps. The baby boomer generation is more sensitive to coffee’s effects and seems to be stepping away from caffeine spikes and crashes to the more gentle sustained lift of teas. At the same time for younger tea drinkers, now that there are more contemporary teahouse options that aren’t just about lace tablecloths and finger sandwiches, tea has become something hip they are embracing, like what happened with coffeehouses 20 years ago.

What is the question you get most when customers visit your tea shop?

Hollie: A lot of people come in asking what kind of tea will benefit health or help them lose weight.

Guy: It would be a tie between a question and a misunderstanding. The question is about caffeine levels of different teas or between coffees and teas (in general, tea has half the caffeine per cup depending how it is prepared). The other is that loose tea is too complicated or takes too long to prepare. With most mugs and pots coming with their own infusing basket or the disposable loose tea infusing bags like we use at the shop, we can quickly show customers it isn’t such an ordeal.

What makes one tea better than another?

Hollie: A tea is made better by the quality of the leaves, the taste, the aroma, the texture and the after taste.

Guy: Tea, like wine, tastes different depending on where it is grown depending on the soil, climate and how the tea is cultivated. Certain regions have produced the best types of tea going back sometimes thousands of years. Limited growing seasons or production will make these teas more expensive. In general, loose teas have a better flavor and are of a higher quality than lower grade teas used in teabags. That said, we always tell customers whatever tea they enjoy is the best tea for them. Some customers prefer pure teas without any floral or fruit blends, others like the wide range of flavored teas that creatively used added ingredients blended with tea leaves. However; like with wine, there does seem to be a path that tea drinkers at the shop progess through from drinking black and green teas to more complex oolong and puerh teas.

What is your favorite type of tea and why?

Hollie: My favourite kind of tea depends on the season. I like Dragon Well in spring, Dongding Oolong in the summer, Pheonix Oolong in the autumn and Pu Erh in cold winter days.

Guy : Very hard to answer. Methee and I have a luxury in buying tea for the shop in that we get to taste and explore literally hundreds of teas a year as we constantly try and select the best teas for the shop. From month to month the favorite changes but a couple of teas that are always on the list are our organic Golden Yunnan black tea, organic Dragon Well green tea and our Cherry Blossom White Tea.

Tell us about the teacups and kettles you sell in your tea house.

Hollie: Our teawares are mainly from china, taiwan and japan. we use different size and different material of pot and cups for different types of teasdepending on the water temperatures that are needed to brew the teas. For example for green teas, we use a ceramic cha chong(a tea bowl with a lid and a sauce) because the material and the shape of the bowl allows the teas cool rapidly so it won’t bring out the bitterness of the teas. When the visual effect is important we will use a glass so you can see the shape and the color of the teas. Oolong will is served with a “kung fung” style tea set containing a Yixing clay teapot, an aroma cup, a drinking cup, an ocean of tea, a tea pool and a dreg spoon. It is quite elaborate and lots of fun to prepare. It’s best to always have the hot water accessible or ready on the table because running back and forth to the kitchen is not relaxing.

Georgetowner •

Doyle New York will auction the estate of the legendary actress, singer and civil rights activist Lena Horne on Wednesday, February 23, 2011 at 2pm, at Doyle New York, 175 East 87th Street, New York, NY.

Born in Brooklyn, Lena Horne (1917-2010) began her professional life at 16 in the chorus line at Harlem’s Cotton Club, before moving to Hollywood and appearing in a series of acclaimed film roles. Beginning in the 1950s, she focused increasingly on live performance, becoming one of the world’s premiere nightclub entertainers. Through her many recordings and television appearances, millions more became her fans.

The Lena Horne collection comprises approximately 200 lots of elegant costume jewelry, accessories, gowns, memorabilia, decorations, silver, furniture, books and fine art from her home on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.

For more information visit DoyleNewYork.com, or contact Doyle New York client services at 212 427 4141, ext 207. Or email ClientServices@DoyleNewYork.com. [gallery ids="99603,105045,105039,105041" nav="thumbs"]

Lisa Gillespie •

Stacy Berman never saw herself working the real estate industry. She studied computer science and communications in college, two industries she followed into her career in software marketing, which eventually ended as vice president of marketing at BEICOM, a computer networking company.

September 11 happened and the software industry bubble burst. She was out of a job.

“When I made my transition, I thought it would be temporary. But I get to bring all of my marketing and management experience to real estate,” says Berman, who first worked as a realtor with Long & Foster in 2004 and nearly four months ago took the job as manager and broker of the Long & Foster Georgetown office. “It’s a lot like my marketing job. There’s strategy in selling a house; my product is the house and you have one day to make a presentation. If it’s not looking perfect, your first impression is blown. There is competitive analysis—how does the house compete price-wise against the competition—and all those are all marketing methodologies.”

Berman moved to the Washington area in 1990 and has lived in Adams Morgan, Cleveland Park and Logan Circle. With two children both under the age of six, she hopes to move to Georgetown when they go off to college because she says she loves the community.

“This is a community and a neighborhood. There aren’t many long-standing enclaves of neighborhoods anymore because Washington has gotten so big and so transient,” says Berman, who currently resides in Chevy Chase with her husband. “You could take Georgetown and put it in a small town in rural Virginia. There are a core group of people that know each other and new people feel that warmth, which is rare in a large metropolitan area.”

Berman fills the shoes of Darrell Parsons, who served in the Georgetown office for over 20 years, but she’s excited to grow the Long & Foster/Christies International brand in Georgetown.

“People are proud of their homes no matter where you live in the world, but even more so in Georgetown. I walk down the street and see the pride people take in their homes.”